Each week, we post short interviews with interesting people about their thoughts and feelings on women and drinking. There is such a wide array of perspectives about this topic, and we are excited to gain insight into as many as possible and to share them with you.
Alma Katsu is a writer living in the Washington, DC area with her husband, musician Bruce Katsu. She graduated from Brandeis University, where she studied writing with novelist John Irving and children’s book author Margaret Rey, and received her MA in Fiction from the Johns Hopkins University. The Taker is her first novel and is published by Gallery Books/Simon and Schuster. You can find more information about her novel at her website, www.almakatsu.com
Drinking Diaries: How old were you when you had your first drink and what was it?
Alma Katsu: I was probably in my early teens. For a brief period I snuck drinks from the liquor cabinet. It might’ve been rum. That didn’t last too long. I didn’t particularly like the taste and was terrified my father would find out.
How did/does your family treat drinking?
My father’s father had been an alcoholic and put his family in a bad spot because of it, and so my father always disapproved of drinking. My parents drank very rarely, only when there was a party in the house and even then, never more than one drink. My father looked down on people who were regular drinkers. He had his own addiction, it just wasn’t alcohol.
How do you approach alcohol in your every day life?
There have been periods when I drank more routinely, but for the most part I abstain. At first it was because I didn’t want the extra calories, then later because I was on medication that didn’t mix well with alcohol. Now I’m quite the lightweight. And I still have that residual feeling that drinking is bad.
If you have kids, how is the subject of drinking handled? Do you drink in front of them? With them?
We don’t have children, but I don’t like to drink in front of my friends’ children.
Have you ever had a phase in your life when you drank more or less?
I’ve spent most of my adult life around musicians, so in my twenties, before I got married, I drank more. My husband is a musician, but he pretty much stopped drinking for the last twenty years, too. Neither of us is a fan of beer, maybe that has something to do with it.
What’s your drink of choice? Why?
I wish I was one of those people who drank sophisticated cocktails but I’ll go for the fruity drinks every time. If I drink now, it’s usually wine.
Can you tell us about the best time you ever had drinking?
We rented a beach house with friends for a week. Every night there was a cocktail hour while one of us made dinner. One of the couples was into martinis at the time, so we had fabulous gin martinis on the deck as the sun went down over the ocean, listening to music and laughing.
Has drinking ever affected—either negatively or positively—a relationship of yours?
I discussed previously on your blog how a former boyfriend who was a severe alcoholic committed suicide (“Addiction: Not Everyone Is Saved”). That happened long after our relationship ended. We were together about a year. After it was over, I learned a lot about myself and addictive personalities, but at the time I didn’t understand what was going on and it was hell.
